Yes, you heard me right, we painted our half bathroom tile because it was just hideous. Let’s see what we started with. The tile was a brown zebra print texture that just wouldn’t pass for this century. So it was time to update it.

Though it is a half bath, we could have demoed the tile and replaced it for a low cost, but we didn’t want to. The time, the mess, the labor was something we wanted to avoid.

I looked into several options for covering up this tile. First I was thinking of peel and stick tile. But after reading some reviews, it seemed like the edges start to stick out if the area is high traffic. We knew the half bath would be high traffic because it’s the only bathroom downstairs.

We then looked into applying a solid vinyl sheet. Linoleum has come a long way since the ’80s and ’90s. They are more durable and modern looking. But we would have to fill the grout lines to make the floor seamless and leveled.

So we came across painting the tile. We actually like to paint. Whether we spray the paint on or use a roller, it’s one of those DIY things we actually enjoy. We wanted something very durable that wouldn’t peel off easily or scratch off easily. So we got this product. It can be used on tubs and tile.

Source

We read so many reviews and liked what we saw, so we decided to go for it. May I add that this paint can be tinted at your local hardware store for free.

*When using this product, a respirator and gloves arerequired, due to a heavy chemical smell*

Also, if we needed to touch up any imperfections, we can buy a touch-up kit for little money.

Let me share with you the step by step instructions. The first step is to make sure that the tile is cleaned thoroughly and sanded.

Then you want to mix the product together. When you get to this point, read the instructions carefully and follow the instructions to the “T”. If you don’t the chemical reaction to form the durable finish may not set properly.

Now it’s time to paint. We used a smooth roller (paint roller used for painting cabinets and trim). It was made with foam. The paint was so strong that the foam roller could only be used for a certain amount of time before it started to break apart. So we made sure we had extras on hand.

The paint covers pretty well, this is how the first coat looked like.

And here is four coats later. Two or three coats would have been fine, but we wanted to make sure we covered every square inch of the brown looking tile.

After the area is painted, it can’t be walked on for about 48 hours. We made sure to let it cure for a week. We then caulked the area and here is the final product.

Let’s look at the before and after:

Not bad for $23.

If you are asking would I do something different now that the project is complete? The answer is yes, I would have tinted it to a creamy color because white paint stains easily. But I would still paint the tile rather than ripping it out. Placing a good-sized bath rug helped to keep the floor clean and preserve the color.

This was truly a great experience. Until next time…